WILL I HAVE A SHARED ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD?
You will automatically have a Shared Electronic Health Record if you are registered at a participating Medical Centre and have not explicitly opted out.
See My Record to find out if your Medical Centre is involved.
WHAT IF I DON’T WANT MY INFORMATION SHARED?
You may choose to opt out of having a Shared Electronic Health Record at any time. If at the time you opt out you already have a record, your record will be made inactive and will not be shared with anyone outside of your Medical Centre.
To opt out you can either phone 0800 727 664, contact your Medical Centre or write to; Freepost Authority Shared Care Record, PO Box 27380, Marion Square, Wellington 6141.
See opt out for more information.
As at November 2016, 441 people have opted off of the Shared Electronic Health Record programme.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF HAVING A SHARED ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD?
Before the Shared Electronic Health Record became available, your most up-to-date health information was not able to be shared outside of your Medical Centre, even if you needed to visit another Medical Centre, Afterhours Medical Centre or the Emergency department.
Sharing your health information through a Shared Electronic Health Record will allow you to receive the best care possible by:
- Alerting health professionals to any risks due to allergies, medications or conditions you may have (even if you’re unable to communicate)
- Making sure tests aren’t repeated unnecessarily
- Enabling faster and better decisions to be made about your care
WHAT IF I WANT TO SHARE MOST OF MY INFORMATION, JUST NOT SOME OF IT?
The purpose of the Shared Electronic Health Record is to help health professionals involved in your care to give you the best care possible.
Some sensitive information will be excluded from being shared on your record automatically.
You can also choose to withhold specific health details from your record.
We recommend you discuss this with your Doctor.
CAN I OPT BACK IN ONCE I’VE OPTED OUT?
Yes.
You can opt in or opt out of having a Shared Electronic Health Record at any stage.
Phone 0800 727 664 for more information.
WHAT HEALTH INFORMATION IS INCLUDED ON MY SHARED ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD?
The information from your Medical Centre that is included in your Shared Electronic Health Record is; medical conditions, allergies, recalls, immunisations, recent test results and what medicines you have been prescribed.
The medical notes that your doctor records as part of your visit are not shared on the Shared Electronic Health Record.
WHO HAS ACCESS TO MY SHARED ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD?
The Shared Electronic Health Record is only available to authorised clinical professionals in approved clinical settings.
This may include doctors, nurses, pharmacists, paramedics and other clinical staff treating you in the following settings:
- Afterhours Medical Centres,
- General Practices,
- Community Pharmacies,
- Paramedics,
- Emergency Department
- Other Hospital Departments
- Wairarapa School Clinics
All authorised users have access to training information and are obliged to be compliant with their organisation’s confidentiality, privacy and security policies.
See My Record for information on who has access to your Shared Electronic Health Record in your region.
IF I VISIT ANOTHER MEDICAL CENTRE, WILL MY HEALTH INFORMATION FROM THAT VISIT BE STORED AS PART OF MY SHARED ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD?
Yes.
Information from visits to your Medical Centre, other Medical Centres and Afterhours Medical Centres may be included in your Shared Electronic Health Record. This is so in an emergency, providers in the Emergency Department or paramedics; will have access to a more complete record of your recent health information.
Information from visits to the Hospital or Emergency Department will not be available on your Shared Electronic Health Record.
You can still choose to withhold specific health details from your record. We recommend you discuss this with your Doctor.
IN AN APPROVED CARE SETTING WILL THE HEALTH PROFESSIONAL CARING FOR ME AUTOMATICALLY ACCESS MY SHARED ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD?
Your Shared Electronic Health Record will be available to them and if practicable they will ask your permission before assessing it.
Exceptions to this would be if you are unconscious or unable to communicate. In both of these cases, having access to your Shared Electronic Health Record could be lifesaving.
CAN I FIND OUT WHO HAS ACCESSED MY RECORD?
Yes.
A log of which health professionals have accessed your Shared Electronic Health Record is maintained and access to the Shared Electronic Health Record is routinely audited.
You can request information about who has accessed your record by phoning 0800 727 664. Upon request you will be sent written information on who has accessed your record.
WHAT IF I HAVE A COMPLAINT?
If you think your privacy has been breached or you have a complaint, you can contact any of the below organisations to discuss further:
- Your General Practice
- Your Primary Healthcare Organisation (PHO)
- Your District Health Board (DHB)
WHO HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN THE DECISION TO INTRODUCE A SHARED ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD?
The decision to introduce Shared Electronic Health Records was made after wide involvement and collaboration from health professionals, including primary and secondary care, and community based organisations. It forms part of wider plans to transform Primary Health Care Services in the Central Districts.
The primary purpose of the Shared Electronic Health Record is to allow health practitioners involved in your care to easily access an up-to-date summary of your health information.
HOW IS THE PROJECT GOVERNED?
Each region has appointed a governance group to ensure the project is implemented and evolves appropriately in each region.
The project governance groups have representatives from health consumers, General Practice, Primary Healthcare Organisations and the District Health Boards involved. It has a mix of consumers, clinicians, health managers, information technologists and privacy officers.
The groups governing the project in each region are listed below:
- Capital and Coast and Hutt Valley: Sub Regional Information Management Alliance
- Wairarapa: Tihei Wairarapa Alliance Leadership Team
- MidCentral: Central PHO Clinical Governance Group
- Whanganui: WRHN Clinical Governance Group
HAVE PRIVACY ISSUES BEEN CAREFULLY CONSIDERED?
A comprehensive Privacy Impact Assessment has been completed and widespread consultation undertaken to ensure our project complies with the Privacy Act and protects the privacy of individuals. The privacy impact has been distributed to a wide range of organisations, consumers, clinicians, and stakeholders.
Click here for ManageMyHealth™ specific privacy and security statements.
Click here for indici™ specific privacy statements
The Privacy Impact Assessment will be periodically reviewed by the governance group to ensure it remains up-to-date and relevant.
WHAT IS A SHARED ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD
The SEHR is a web-based system that presents a summary of your health information in approved clinical settings.
indici™ provide the SEHR in MidCentral DHB, Wairarapa DHB, Hutt Valley DHB, and Capital and Coast DHB.
ManageMyHealth™ provides the SEHR to the Whanganui Regional Health Network.
CAN I ACCESS MY OWN HEALTH INFORMATION USING TH SHARED ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD?
The Shared Electronic Health Record is only available to approved clinicians. Check with your practice to see if they offer a patient portal where you can access your own health information and interact with your medical centre online.
Contact your Medical Centre to find out if they’re offering a patient portal or find more information on Patient Portal’s here.
IS THE SHARED ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD SECURE?
Yes.
the Shared Electronic Health Record uses security for data storage and information transfer at a level similar to internet banking.
Only approved registered health professionals will have access to the system and all require a login and password.
A routine audit programmes will identify and follow up any unusual access patterns. The project has a governance group, consisting of consumers, clinicians, information technologists and privacy officers who ensure any privacy and security issues are discussed and resolved.
WHERE IS MY RECORD STORED?
Vendors providing the Shared Electronic Health Record are obliged to store information in secure data centre within New Zealand. This ensures that all the protections of our New Zealand privacy laws apply to the storage and use of your health information.